Bee Dysentry

[Mr C]

This colony died from starvation, how bad is this image?



View attachment 9805

 

[REDWOOD]

Bad, were bees tested before winter

 

[Mr C]

These were fine last year

 

[REDWOOD]

Contaminated water source

 

[Mr C]

Redwood thanks would it be okay to reuse the frames after they've had a clean?

 

[REDWOOD]

Two options, acetic acid or boil frames. I choose the later
Some good info below
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?sectionid=70

 

[oliver90owner]

Bees do not normally die off starvation if dysentry is rife.

Yes, there may be some indication of excrement but the pattern may also be propolis and burr comb.

Any evidence of fouling on the outside of the hive?

I'm not convinced.

 

[Mr C]

Bees do not normally die off starvation if dysentry is rife.

Yes, there may be some indication of excrement but the pattern may also be propolis and burr comb.

Any evidence of fouling on the outside of the hive?

I'm not convinced.

No outside looked ok hers a image of crown bored
View attachment 9806

 

[Heather]

What evidence of dysentery? Was front of hive splattered?Were all the frames poo stained? Were all the bees dead with head in cells?
All I see is old propolis and wax traces. Maybe I need specsavers!

OK.., good last year, strong colony... but all the more need for food++- either their own stores or your input.
I think starvation is the least forgivable error on bee keepers part. It is the one thing we CAN do to assist our bees.
Sorry to have fizzy fit with you but at least you may learn from this (Lord, how I hate that last expression... seems to be automatic response we all hear these days.. usually from politicians)

 

[Mr C]

Redwood thanks would it be okay to reuse the frames after they've had a clean?

What evidence of dysentery? Was front of hive splattered?Were all the frames poo stained? Were all the bees dead with head in
All I see is old propolis and wax traces. Maybe I need specsavers!

OK.., good last year, strong colony... but all the more need for food++- either their own stores or your input.
I think starvation is the least forgivable error on bee keepers part. It is the one thing we CAN do to assist our bees.
Sorry to have fizzy fit with you but at least you may learn from this (Lord, how I hate that last expression... seems to be automatic response we all hear these days.. usually from politicians)

Heather It was one of my best last year. lot of stores still in frames no dysentery on the out side or on the wax. I'm going to have bees tested. I'd like to know more form people how have had some thing similar.

 

[Heather]

If there was a suspicious loss of bees then I would dump all wax and sterilise all frames.
Did bees become isolated from stores? Where were bulk of dead bees, floor or frame?

 

[Black Comb]

Might be nosema ceranae.

 

[susbees]

Might be nosema ceranae.

Dysentery is not associated with N. cerana. Dysentery is not a cause of N. apis. It just happens to co-exist sometimes - reduced immunity?

Nosema apis can then, in addition to being spread through contaminated water be spread through cleaning up dysentery from contaminated bees.

 

[mbc]

No outside looked ok hers a image of crown bored
View attachment 9806

That crown board looks like its had no more than half a dozen bees caught short and having to poo inside on it.

 

[Black Comb]

Dysentery is not associated with N. cerana. Dysentery is not a cause of N. apis. It just happens to co-exist sometimes - reduced immunity?

Nosema apis can then, in addition to being spread through contaminated water be spread through cleaning up dysentery from contaminated bees.

Do keep up.
The way the the thread was going was that there was very little if any sign of dysentery. Hence why IMO it is likely to be N. ceranae.

 

[Mr C]

Thanks for your comments hopefully there was nothing to worry abou.
Il have the bees tested in the next couple of days. then il know the outcome and let you al know.

 

[susbees]

Do keep up.
The way the the thread was going was that there was very little if any sign of dysentery. Hence why IMO it is likely to be N. ceranae.

The way this thread was going...

If you had half decent resolution on your monitor (this old one is 1920x1200), you would see quite a few sizeable blobs of faeces on the frame tops.

If they were my bees I would have made up a slide of a scraping and stuck it straight under a microscope to confirm/rule out N.apis.

 

[Mr C]

So the bees have been tested no nosema.
I'm thinking I must of squashed in the Queen last year.
It was my first year working commercial hive and it was a bit tight I will have to make some dummy boards up.

 

[beeno]

So the bees have been tested no nosema.
I'm thinking I must of squashed in the Queen last year.
It was my first year working commercial hive and it was a bit tight I will have to make some dummy boards up.

Hi Mr. C,
Thanks for sharing that. Fed up with all the nosema diagnoses on the forum.

 

[MartinL]

really need to see the comb, the key question is are their tails sticking out of the cells?
If so, then most likely starved, the bigger question would be when?